Governance in Contemporary Germany: The Semisovereign State Revisited

Description

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, West Germany was considered to be one of the world's most successful economic and political systems. In his seminal 1987 analysis of West Germany's 'semisovereign' system of governance, Peter Katzenstein attributed this success to a combination of a fragmented polity, consensus politics and incremental policy changes. However, unification in 1990 has both changed Germany's institutional configuration and created economic and social challenges on a huge scale. This volume therefore asks whether semisovereignty still exists in contemporary Germany and, crucially, whether it remains an asset in terms of addressing these challenges. By shadowing and building on the original study, an eminent team of British, German and American scholars analyses institutional changes and the resulting policy developments in key sectors, with Peter Katzenstein himself providing the conclusion. Together, the chapters provide a landmark assessment of the outcomes produced by one of the world's most important countries.

Simon Green is a Lecturer at the Institute for German Studies, University of Birmingham. He has worked extensively on German politics, in particular immigration and citizenship policy, and his book The Politics of Exclusion: Institutions and Immigration Policy in Contemporary Germany, was published in 2004. William E. Paterson is Professor of German Politics and Director of the Institute for German Studies, University of Birmingham. He has written widely on German and European politics, and in 1999 was awarded an OBE for scholarship in German studies.

'... Peter Katzenstein provided a classic analysis of the political and institutional factors which underpinned West Germany's remarkable post-war renaissance and created a distinctive polity and society. After almost two decades this book returns to that analysis and asks how far it is still relevant to understanding the politics of Germany today and the challenges it faces, in the era after unification and the end of the cold war. These essays present an authoritative, penetrating and wide-ranging exploration of Modell Deutschland and its prospects, and Peter Katzenstein supplies a trenchant and illuminating response, which reaffirms the central themes of his earlier analysis. There are few questions in European politics as important as the future development of Germany, and this book makes a timely and valuable contribution to our understanding of Germany's problems as well as Germany's potential.' Andrew Gamble, University of Sheffield The German political and economic system is undergoing fundamental changes. Leading British and European experts provide a unique analysis of political and economic developments in Germany. This book gives an in-depth and authoritative assessment of the problems and challenges Europe's largest country is facing today and in the years to come. Prof. Dr. Gert-Joachim Glaessner, Humboldt-University Berlin 'With perfect timing, Green and Paterson, together with their all-star contributors, address the critical governance issues now confronting the unified German polity. This book adds a new dimension to our understanding of political development in Germany and elsewhere.' David P. Conradt, author of The German Polity, East Carolina University '... in their edited volume ... Simon Green and William E. Paterson ...present the most lucid stock-taking of Standort Deutschland for some time.' Christoph Nesshover, Handelsblatt (Translation by Arne Zeschel) 'Simon Green and William E. Paterson of the renowned Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham present the most lucid stock-taking of Standort Deutschland for some time.' Handelsblatt '... stands out pleasantly from the flood of reform literature that rehashes an undifferentiated litany of 'consensus in nonsense.' Berliner Republik ' ... this is an excellent book for an academic audience at all levels.' International Affairs